Four racist incidents reported to Lothians police every day

Published on Wednesday 1 April 2009 09:45

ETHNIC minorities are reporting nearly four racist incidents to Lothian and Borders Police every day, according to new figures.

A total of 1388 reports were made between April 2007 and March last year, with victims suffering both physical and verbal abuse.

The volume of reports had been soaring in recent years, with many citing terrorist atrocities in the UK and abroad for fuelling the rise in attacks.

The new figures show the number of reports fell by nearly ten per cent against the previous year, when the highest-ever figure was recorded for the force area.

Across Scotland, the volume of racist incidents fell by only one per cent during the same period.

Police chiefs said they were "encouraged" by the drop and praised the "growing willingness" of members of the public in Edinburgh to report attacks they witness.

Ethnic community leaders called the decrease "commendable", but added that the "vast majority" of incidents were never reported.

Chief Inspector Brian Wilson, of the diversity unit at the force's safer communities department, said: "We still believe there is under-reporting of these crimes and we want to encourage all victims of hate crime to come forward.

"Victims are becoming more confident in coming to us and knowing that the matter will be fully investigated."

The figures, published yesterday by the Scottish Government, revealed that there were 1388 racist incidents reported for 2007/08 compared with 1521 in 2006/07, 1292 in 2005/06 and 814 in 2004/05.

The force's remote reporting scheme, where police can be contacted outwith stations, is believed to have led more victims to contact police.

Chief Insp Wilson added: "We're also seeing more witnesses and other parties coming forward to report hate crimes which is encouraging too. It shows there is a growing intolerance in the community towards racism, and people who witness it are more likely to contact us."

Jalal Chaudry, the Edinburgh and East of Scotland representative on the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "It's quite commendable that the number of reports of racism has decreased, but these are still reports. The vast majority of racist incidents are never reported."

The figures showed that 5243 racist incidents were reported across Scotland in 2007/08 compared with 5321 for the previous year.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:

"We need to be ever vigilant and ensure that all our communities are protected."